


A Broken Beat

by satirnine



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Budding Love, F/M, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, tags aren't working on my phone rn so I'll fix them later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-26 20:58:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15009329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satirnine/pseuds/satirnine
Summary: Sollux never thought the seadwellers would turn out to be more than just a major interest to him. They were always just eye candy and something to toy with. He'd never had luck dating one.But when one seadweller seems to tear apart his organized life from the inside out, Sollux has to accept the fact that they're not just some game addition. They're the new boss battle.Luckily he has two weird human dorks to help him deal with the seadweller menace who is currently disrupting his regular life pattern.





	1. I Think This is an Exposition

Purple. His eyes are bright purple. That's not a natural color for human eyes, and even though Sollux's brain supplies him the obvious fact that he's not human, it never fails to make a sense of... 'not right' travel down his spine. Eridan was nothing to be afraid of (usually), since he was just another civil sea dweller that traveled onto land. He was thin, lanky, and delicate. Similarities to a seahorse popped up in Sollux's mind. He's sure that if Eridan had a DNA sequence that had absolutely nothing to permit him to be on land like he is, he'd have the tail of a seahorse. Or a shark, if that maw that he frowns with gives any indication.

Those purple eyes aren't even focused on Sollux and he's still subconsciously freaked out about it.

On a surprise frozen yogurt trip that he was dragged out of the house for by Karkat, the short, sassy Hispanic boy that currently leaned next to him, they ran into two of the most infamous sea dwellers in town. AKA their sorta friends. Sure, Sollux had an eye for the pink finned mermaid in front of them (what? She had a nice body and was decent to hang out with. Unfortunately she's too confused with Sollux's laptops and just... their first try didn't work out.) but he wouldn't go so far to call Eridan his friend.

He'll tolerate him when he's quiet. And fortunately, Eridan's being quiet. Feferi is the one that's going off with the excited babbling. Her large pink fins fluttering excitedly. Despite Sollux's disinterest in generally everything, his narrow eyes flicked to the anatomy that was special to those that came from the ocean.

The type of aquatic human (they had a scientific name but no one really paid attention to it), otherwise known as sea-dwellers in the small town that Sollux resides in, showed up only a century ago. Before then, they had never come onto land and stayed. While there was a shitton of cave paintings and ancient documentation of them, they hadn't ever integrated themselves into human society until a century ago. Obviously, they were different the typical mermaid that sailors used to see. 

While they were the same species, Feferi explained to her friends that they evolved and their tails split into limbs that worked just like humans. It was pretty fascinating to hear about, in Sollux's opinion. The sea-dwellers were interesting on their own.

From his time with Feferi, he'd learned the ins and outs of their anatomy. They worked like one would expect. A human mixed with fish capabilities. They had two sets of gills, a single one on each side of their neck, and two to three that trailed down their sides in between their ribcages. He had some experience fiddling with said gills too (Feferi let him touch with a giggle and then he found out how sensitive they were and it turned into a fun little time), and inside the little slits of the skin was this almost fluffy substance that matched the color pattern of the sea-dweller, flushed with their red, watery blood, and it shown bright when they would breathe underwater.

Fins littered their skin, which was a shade just off of any human skin color. It was... gray almost. Like the skin of someone freezing to death. But where their skin was stretched was still flushed with blood and full of life just like any human would be. Colorful fins protruded from their back with sometimes sharp spines, webbing connected their fingers and toes, and they had big colored fins that took place of a human's ear and connected to their jaw. They twitched and displayed emotion, and reacted to sound almost like a dog's would. 

And their eyes.

Their eyes were milky and while they had an almost human eye, the pupil was more oblong and they had a third eyelid. When Feferi flashed Sollux her third eyelid, he had nearly jumped back in surprise.

"Sollux Captor. Get your big head out of your bottomless shithole and pay the fuck attention to your friend and her incessant babbling." Sollux almost jumped back this time, too. He was lost in staring at the intoxicating way Feferi's fins would wriggle. She giggled and wiggled them on purpose just to play with him. He had admitted to her once how fascinated he was with them, and she made it a point to constantly wiggle them at him just to toy with him.

"Jesus, okay. What the hell did you say?" He grumbled, bringing his froyo up to his mouth and moving his glare to Eridan because he couldn't direct that at Feferi's precious face.

"I asked if you wanted to come hang out at the beach tonight!" She shrugged her speckled shoulders and looked at Sollux expectantly. 

"FF... I should be working on a program." He said, his lisping voice taking on a tone as if he were telling a toddler not to get into the cookie jar.

"Come on Shoalux! You know you love playing dumb music on the beach and getting dragged into the water."

"I hate the music and getting wet."

"Boat you pike hanging out with me!"

"You got me there. Fine. But if I miss a deadline I'm marching to your little hut and stealing the amount of money in sand dollars and selling the little dead corpses on the internet."

"Ew-w. W-what the fuck?" Came a new, stuttery voice. Eridan scrunched up his long nose at Sollux's comment, his posture straightening up from his grumpy hunch. 

"He's joking, Erifish." Feferi attempted to soothe the violet sea-dweller.

"Fuckin' disgustin'." He grumbled, turning away to ignore everyone again. He was only here to accompany Feferi. Knowing them, they were probably going to watch another movie and bombard one of the humans with questions until their ears fall off. 

"Anywave! Sea you then Shoallux! 8pm. Tonight. Brine your seasuit! We'll be waiting!" She gave him a long-lashed wink and dragged the much taller sea-dweller off with her, leaving Sollux and Karkat alone again.

"If there's a day that goes by where I don't have to listen to the drabble of that pink finned disaster of a mermaid and be in the presence of grouch ass Eridan, there better be fucking pigs flying. There is not a fucking moment that I don't have to deal with one of them." Karkat gripes at Sollux's side.

Sollux looks at him through his peripheral vision and rolls his eyes. "I know you may not enjoy FF's bullshit, but I know for a fact that you want to pet Eridan into submission."

Immediately the short boy snaps and jerks towards Sollux. "I do absolutely not! That is a load of horseshit and you goddamn know it, Captor!"

"You wanna pet him~" Sollux sing-songs before he has to pick up his feet and move away to avoid the flying fist of a certain friend of his.

"THAT IS FUCKING DISGUSTING AND I WOULD RATHER VOMIT SLUGS THAN TOUCH HIS CONSTANTLY SCOWLING FACE."

"Yell a little louder KK, I don't think Eridan heard you quite clear enough."

"I will shit in your pillow."

"I'm locking you out of my house." It goes comfortably silent. Well, quiet along with Karkat grumbling hateful words under his breath. Sollux continues to lick at his frozen yogurt, leaving two lines with the tip of his split tongue. A fun little thing when he thought he had enough money to pay for random body modifications.

Sollux and Karkat have been good friends for a while now. It started when Karkat and his family drug their sorry ass to Bexley. They moved from a town down in Texas to the beach town just off the coast. Fluent in both Spanish and English due to the fact they lived literally next to Mexico, they were quite a unique family to come here. Even the Captors, who came all the way from Korea to settle here, blended in more than the Vantases. They were loud, proud, and even louder. And of course, Sollux would end up friends with one of them, Karkat.

They both had struggled with ridicule in middle school, the years they first met, and since they both had an interest in coding and were some of the few in school that didn't have friends, they begrudgingly started hanging out. Eventually, they became friends, and as they went through the middle school and high school, a friend group started to form around them. A very loose, very breakable friend group, but it was something. They all had someone to call and hang out with when they get particularly lonely.

Needless to say, Sollux and Karkat weren't about to break apart. They were pretty well stuck for life, considering they made it to graduation. 

The only tension that would happen now is, well. College. They hadn't breached the topic yet, figuring they would enjoy the summer they had before they had to go off to college.

"Are you coming to the beach tonight?" Sollux finally spoke up, turning his head towards Karkat. Karkat glared at him through his dark curly hair. 

"No. I hate sand."

"Not even if Eridan will be there? All pettable?"

"That's it, I'm fucking leaving." Karkat pushed himself off the wall and fished his car keys out of his hoodie, stomping over to his beat-up car. "FUCK YOU, SOLLUX CAPTOR. I'll call you later tonight."

"I'm sure you will."

\---

Beach times with the sea-dwellers was always interesting. Sollux never brought much to entertain himself because he knew that it wouldn't be necessary. Feferi always kept him entertained. Ever since that failed first date, they quickly came to realize that they weren't really cut out for a relationship together. They were really just good friends that occasionally did a little more because they were both just lonely and curious.

It was even more interesting when Eridan was there during beach time.

Sollux was propped up on the shore, a good few yards from where the tide was hitting, sitting on a blanket he brought specifically for sandy purposes and was watching Feferi trying to coax Eridan to sing with her.  Feferi really liked to sing. It was a sea-dweller thing. Where the siren myth came from.

She rolled out a beautiful high note, and Eridan just grumbled, hugging himself as he stood in the water, far out enough that the water came up to his waist. He rumbled, almost responding before he stiffened up and turned away from Feferi. He clearly didn't want to sing. 

"Fine!" Feferi huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'll go sing with Shoalux." She turned around in the water and started heading up the shore.

"I don't sing." He commented, bending one leg to rest his arm on his knee. All three of them were down to swimming attire, though Sollux had managed to not get wet. Eridan and Feferi had already been swimming, so they both had hair plastered to their skin and their full color was out in their fins and gills.

"Oh hush, I know! Come into the water, it's nice!" 

"It's going to be cold." Sollux frowned and ran a hand through his dark hair. Feferi ran up and sat down next to him, rolling her bright pink eyes. She brushed a lock of dark hair from her eyes.

"Please?" Sollux could never say no to Feferi. She was too sweet. And she had her little pout. She would puff out her big lower lip, and Sollux would melt. It was a nasty little trick. Feferi was a chubbier girl, more fat to keep her warm and comfortable in deeper waters and in the winter. She was a princess down there. She was tough but soft, was fed plenty, and beautifully decorated with gold and treasures. It was how their highest royalty was. Her skin was dark, the shade that just a little too black to be a human skin color.

"Fine." Immediately Feferi perked up and lit up, literally. Her phosphorescent freckles lit up with happiness in the darkness, and she grabbed Sollux's hand and dragged the tall lanky male out into the water. Feferi was also a rather short girl, so it was almost hilarious seeing the beanpole that is Sollux Captor getting dragged off by the small girl.

It was freezing. Sollux immediately shivered as he was only drug halfway into the water. He sighed and gritted his teeth as he slid down to fully dunk his head underwater. He just wanted to get used to the cold. When he popped back up he was met with Feferi grinning at him and Eridan behind her, looking away on purpose. 

"I hate this," Sollux grumbled. Eridan seemed to make a noise of agreement.

"Come on! Come out farther, Shoallux! So you don't have to sit." She coaxed him to come out farther until the water was up to his neck while his feet still touched the ground. Feferi swam around him, ducking under for a bit before resurfacing and giggling.

"You're having too much fun." He pushed the hair out of his face and wiped water off of his glasses, only managing to get more on them. "I want to go back to shore."

"But then you'll be cold," Feferi mentioned.

"Stop being smart." Sollux ducked his head under again for a few moments, before he came back up with a gasp. It was unfair that the sea-dwellers could come up with absolutely no gasping at all. Feferi went out farther to twirl around and dive down for shells and creatures. Sollux stayed put. He could barely swim.

Which would prove to be a big mess up. The waves came in rough at one point, and he was kicked off his feet. He inhaled a bit of water as he went down, and ended up choking on water underwater as he forced his eyes shut. Feferi was too distracted with a little snail to notice that Sollux didn't go under on his own accord, but a pair of violet eyes had noticed from their glare at the back of his head.

Sollux was suddenly heaved up by cool, strong arms, and he coughed and sputtered as he was pulled back to the shore. Eridan dropped him down onto the sand, and Sollux had to double over to cough up the water out of his lungs. Eridan's fins betrayed his grumpy face, proving his worry over the choking boy. He stood helpless for a moment before he kneeled down and patted Sollux's back.

"Fuck wa- ccck! -ter!" Sollux hissed, wiping at his mouth as he continued to cough weakly. Eridan didn't say anything behind him, and Feferi seemed to finally notice what was going on as he quickly dashed over.

"Oh no, Shoallux! Are you okay?"

"I'm going home." He huffed, getting up and jerking away from Eridan who still had his hand on his back, grabbing his blanket before he walked off to his car in silence. Feferi and Eridan were quiet behind him, staying where they were.

Sollux was done with the beach for tonight.


	2. Never Skip Mental Health Day

After the fiasco that was last night, Sollux slept pretty damn well. He was exhausted after swallowing copious amounts of water and dealing with the fear and adrenaline that rushed through his veins. He hadn't spoken to Feferi despite her messages she sent from her phone almost immediately after he arrived at his home.

Waking up was a different story. Sollux was never a good morning person. He always hated getting up in the mornings. His freelance job lets him stay at home a lot, and he really only had to go into his second job when money was rough or a particularly difficult repair came in and he needed to help. So getting up that morning was rough as usual. He sighed as he sat up, reaching over to grab his phone and turn off the annoying screeching that was his alarm. He gently kicked away the cats that were curled up on his legs and stood up, stretching his arms over his head.

His phone chimed in his hand and he looked down at it as one of his cats started to paw at his back. He ignores the animal in favor of dealing with the spam of messages from a very concerned Feferi. He never meant to upset her that much but he was just too tired and panicked to really discuss anything. He sighed, thin fingers setting the phone down with no action made to respond and he ran a hand through his hair while his feet carried him to the kitchen.

His apartment wasn't huge. Or decent sized at all. It was small, really only fit for one person. And two cats. The walk to his kitchen that was barely separated from his living room was only a few yards at the most. He pulled open the fridge to pull out a pop tart (why was it in there?) and he dropped it into the toaster.

At the brush of two tails around his ankles, Sollux grabbed the honey from the top shelf and immediately the two cats stood up on their hind legs. Without a word, he put a dollop of honey on each hand and leaned down, offering one hand to each cat to lick the sweet golden liquid from his long fingers.

Both cats ate the honey up rather quickly. The two pets were gifts to Sollux from his brother and father. They both accidentally got him one the same birthday, but he could hardly complain at having two kittens to snuggle with. Loo came from Mituna, his brother, the red tabby reigning from Mituna's girlfriend's cat who had surprise kittens around the time. Sis, the Russian blue, was gifted to him from his father, bought from a local shelter.

He loved and hated both cats. They both turned out to be spastic little cats, jumping around and tearing up things, a constant whirlwind of destruction. They seemed to only calm down when given honey, and it became a routine to feed them it at every meal that he was home for. Was it unhealthy? Probably. Did Sollux care? A little bit but it made them happy and it was another routine to keep his unstable life have something for him to depend on.

Which he needed. Desperately. Everything was ever changing and he took time to really appreciate the constants.

His cats. His apartment. Coding. Karkat's anger and spite. Feferi and Eridan's strange friendship. Eridan's angst. His dad. Mituna. Dave loitering around his apartment every Friday. Froyos. Aradia.

Speaking of Aradia.

Sollux needed someone stable and ever present to settle his fried nerves. The whole drowning situation really fried what little semblance of stability he had these last few weeks. He pulled the poptart from the toaster, holding it carefully to avoid burning his skin while refusing to dirty an entire plate for something so simple. He trailed back to his bedroom, picking up his phone and shooting a quick message to Aradia.

What day was it? Sollux clicked his phone to the lock screen and peered at the date. It was Thursday. Dave worked and wouldn't shove his way in today. Karkat had his weekly family day. Sollux was ignoring Feferi and Eridan despite the fact that he knows he shouldn't. Feferi will eventually find him and press him. But if he can hide with Aradia, who keeps this day free specifically for their hangouts, he'll be fine. 

Aradia answers immediately. It's not words he wants to hear. 

From: Hoedia :ram emoji: (AA)  
 _0h! i'm s0rry s0llux!!! i took tavros's shift because he got sick 0n0 c0me t0 the st0re and we can chat!! dave can handle the fr0nt 0n his 0wn f0r a bit, he's a big b0y 0u0_

To: Hoedia :ram emoji: (AA)   
_don't call hiim a biig boy, he'll get off on iit._

From: Hoedia :ram emoji: (AA)   
_stfu and get 0ver here y0u big baby!!!_

_also fuck you i have a baby boy kink not a big boy kink so suck a computer microphone_

Sollux sighs. He doesn't want to leave the house. He doesn't want to go to the record store. Sure, it's a nice, calm crowd, but he doesn't want to travel. Doesn't want to listen to the scratchy music played from the record player set behind the register. He takes a bite of his poptart before setting it on his messy bed side table, plenty of forgotten things sitting there from being removed from his pocket and out of his hair and wherever else Feferi and Aradia like to place "cute" things. He grabs his keys from the exact same stand, momentarily forgetting the poptart as he starts to head to his door. Loo and Sis will find it, and he won't have to worry about cleanup once he remembers it. 

Apparently he is going to the record store. He needs a chat with Aradia, and there's a backroom perfectly crafted for chats and well. Someone's had sex in it, probably. Not even a probably. Sollux knows for a fact.

He hasn't, if that's what you're thinking.

He picks up some random cleanish clothes from his floor, ending up in simple dark jeans and a red, blue, and white striped t-shirt. Readjusting his glasses, he makes sure he's decent and has some semblance of deodorant on before he slips into shoes and leaves his apartment.

After forcing the rickety door closed, he locks it and heads down the steps to the lower level, than leaves through the front door and heads to his older vehicle. It's a simple 1999 Honda Accord, a deep green that everyone thinks is black until they look close. It's got a few dings and will randomly stall sometimes, but it gets Sollux places and was cheap. He pops open the door and let's the heated air filter out, reaching in to turn the car on and get the AC started.

From: Hoedia :ram emoji: (AA)  
 _yo broski you should bring me a slushie  
ill pay you back_

To: Hoedia :ram emoji: (AA)  
 _u2e your own phone and ii'll con2iider iit._

From: dick :bird emoji:  
 _dude come on ill pay you 5 bucks even  
a free 2 bucks for shipping_

To: dick :bird emoji:  
 _fiine._

Sollux slides into his car, slamming the door shut and popping the aux adapter on, playing some random soft music to avoid headaches. He stops by the slushie place, ordering a green apple slushie because he knows Dave too much (and the "ironic" fucker is too predictable), and drives the rest of the way to the record shop, parking behind the building to not take up customer parking. He sets Dave's slushie on top of the obnoxious bright pink pick up truck that belongs to him and walks in.

Walking from the back is not nearly as interesting as walking in from the front. He has to go through the back room first, then is behind the register, the door opening right next to the record that is currently playing some artist he doesn't know. The shop is actually a cozy little place, records and albums and posters and the like decorating the walls, the counters, the shelves. Everything is ordered by genre and then year released, and the lighting is a soft yellow, giving the entire place a nice homey feel. The owner of the place only ever wanted this to be nice and cozy, and requires the employees to always have some form of quiet music playing from the record player behind the register. Sollux sits down on top of the counter, Dave popping up from behind a shelf in the main store as soon as he hears Sollux's keys jangle gently.

Ah, Dave Strider. After moving here from Texas a few years back, he's somehow wiggled his way into Sollux's life, and while not one of his best friends, Sollux would consider him a... Tolerable constant in his life. Dave never works on Fridays, so instead of staying at the apartment that all of his siblings live in, he breaks into Sollux's apartment and rolls around with his cats and they end up talking bullshit and playing video games if Sollux isn't busy. Even with Dave being ever present and pushy, he still understands boundaries and if Sollux has his apartment door locked, Dave leaves, understanding the meaning put behind it. Locked door means not allowed.

Dave walks over, hopping over the counter in one quick move, peering through sunglasses expectantly at Sollux.

"It's on the roof of your obnoxious fucking truck." He lisps out, holding his hand out with a raised eyebrow. Dave gives him a 'what the fuck' face before rolling his eyes and plopping a 5 dollar bill folded meticulously into a dick. Great. He heads out the back door, coming back in with his slushie and sitting behind the register. 

"'Radia, your boyfriend is here." Dave calls out towards the jazz section.

"I know, Dave, I heard him talk. The store is empty and it's quiet." Sollux can hear her roll her eyes. She hops out from behind a shelf and bounces over to Sollux, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "What'd'ya need, bee boy?" She asks, walking around to stand behind the counter. 

"About 5 cases of Vodka."

"Sorry, but drinking in the store isn't allowed. How about a jam session instead?"

"I guess that could work." Sollux gets off of the counter, yawning as he follows Aradia to the back room.

Stacks of records and boxes litter the edges of the darker room, and Aradia pulls out two chairs from the side closet, setting them up. She plops down in one, the metal folding chair scraping against the floor for a moment. Instead of sitting in the other chair, Sollux sits Indian style in front of Aradia. He naturally rests his head on her lap, and her hands instinctually come down to run through his hair soothingly. It's their own routine. She only pulls out the second chair in case Sollux isn't in a touchy mood.

"What happened? Feferi came in earlier and asked about you. Even Eridan looked mildly concerned on his pouty little fish face." She asked, voice soft. Sollux let his eyes slip shut and he sighed before working up an answer.

"Mood plummeted. I've already been on a downhill, and then we were out on the beach and I slipped and nearly drowned. Eridan of all people saved me but it..." He pursed his lips, not finding the words.

Luckily, Aradia knew. "Shook you up? Want me to talk to Feferi for you? She's worried, but you don't need to frazzle yourself up. She'll be understanding." Sollux nodded mutely, his hands fidgeting in his lap. "What's the protocol today?"

"Operation Steady." Code names. For how Sollux wanted to go into a soothed mood. They both divised a code for what would help Sollux just calm down. 

"Can Operation Steady run smoothly outside? We can put on different music. The only problem factor is Dave and customers."

"Do you guys sell headphones?"

"No, but Dave has some, I'm sure."

"That works."

"Wonderful, come on." He gently nudges Sollux up, taking his wrist in her hand and leading him back out to the main part of the store. "Heya, Dave, can we borrow a pair of headphones?" Aradia asks as soon as they're in ear shot.

"Sure, they're in the bag." He motions to his bag that rests under the counter. Aradia reaches into the red bag and pulls out a pair of earbuds, plucking them into Sollux's ears and Sollux does the rest of the work, pulling out his phone and plugging the headphones in before playing his own music. Aradia boots Dave off of the register, scooching the chair back and sitting down. Sollux folds himself down next to the chair, leaning against Aradia's leg.

Dave, thankfully, has learned to recognize when an operation is going down at work. So he just gets busy with stocking the shelves. Sollux, deaf to the world except when Aradia would speak and he'd hear the muffled vibrations, just took in his surroundings.

Aradia's hair was always so curly. She had it pulled back into a braid that Sollux was sure Dave had done with his long, pale fingers. The dark curls were already poking out, but Dave was nearly an artist, and perfectly crafted the thick brown hair to appear messy and elegant on purpose. Aradia wore the store's shirt, the name of the store scrawled over an image of a record, all on a burgundy t-shirt. Dave wore the same getup, but his black skinny jeans were replaced with black Bermuda shorts on Aradia. Aradia and Dave were so... Different, yet alike.

Aradia had olive skin, beautiful dark brown eyes, and was soft around the edges and filled out with a nice curve. Dave was pale, sunburn always dusting over his freckled cheeks and shoulders in the summer, with bright blonde hair and sharp, angled limbs. He wasn't as tall as Sollux, but he was probably the third tallest out of those he graduated with. Gamzee, the stoner kid who no one's knows how he graduated, was first tallest. Even where Dave and Aradia differed in appearance and personalities, they complimented each other. They made jokes, had their own inside humor, and could communicate on a level that only Sollux might be able to really understand. Even though he couldn't hear any conversation, the dynamic made Sollux sigh softly, his eyes shutting again in content. Aradia's hand came down to run through his hair again, soothing him into a nap, music playing in his ear and Dave's obnoxious ranting a muffled drone behind the music.

He loved Aradia. Dave too. They were nice constants, even when things changed.

It sucks that things have to change.


End file.
